Jerry Walls: The bobcat, our ‘little lion’

Photo: Courtesy Of National Park Service / Courtesy Of National Park Service

Photo: Courtesy Of National Park Service / Courtesy Of National Park Service

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

A bobcat wanders along the Los Angeles River.

A bobcat wanders along the Los Angeles River.

Photo: Courtesy Of National Park Service / Courtesy Of National Park Service

Jerry Walls: The bobcat, our ‘little lion’

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Last week, an unusual sighting occurred in back of our house. And it came in triplicate.

On one of the rare occasions that I wash dishes, my wife suddenly exclaimed, “Come to the back door, you gotta see this!” By the time I washed the dish soap off my hands, as usually happens, the unusual and exciting observation was over. The threesome had moved back into the woods.

We are used to seeing feral cats from time to time on our property. But these three cats were much larger than the average feral cat. According to my wife, one was a bit larger than the two others. And their tails were short-cropped, merely short projecting nubs. She had seen three bobcats.

My first reaction was that bobcats don’t usually travel in groups. Then I remembered that the young kittens, usually two or three in number, remain with the mother until the fall of their first year. Usually, the male bobcat is a little larger than the female. A large bobcat can grow to almost four feet in total length. They can weigh up to 35 pounds which is a lot of cat!

Bobcats have great eyesight and acute hearing abilities. This, combined with their secretive nature and ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions have resulted in them being fairly common in Southeast Texas. Usually, they are most commonly observed after dark but diurnal sightings are often recorded.

If you are fortunate, you may even find the scratches on trees that bobcats use to sharpen their claws.

Bobcats feed on a multitude of prey items. Included in the menu are mice, rats, birds, squirrels and rabbits. They are powerful enough to bring down a small deer but don’t make a habit of doing so unless other smaller food items are scarce.

Bobcats are named after their short, “bobbed” tail. This is usually the distinguishing field mark when one is sighted.

Vocal animals, their sounds are similar to those of domestic cats. Their loud scream is quite piercing. Much louder than that of a housecat.

When I worked at Jesse Jones Park in Humble several years ago, there was a bobcat that would occasionally saunter up the ramp between the center and the maintenance building. She would pose for a picture or two before silently slinking off into the woods nearby. If you want to get an up-close and personal look at a bobcat, visit a local nature center to study their taxidermied specimens. A visit to a zoo or animal rehab facility may be another good option to learn more about bobcats. Who knows, you might even see the real thing outside in your neighborhood!

Bobcats are in and around Montgomery County. Any good-sized woodlot or undeveloped area might have one as long as there is a good source of food for them. They are not as rare as you might think. These “little lions” are truly one of our amazing wild neighbors.

Did you know that bobcats sometimes sit quietly in one spot to wait for a prey item to come into their capture range. This can either be on the ground or up in a tree or other elevated area.